גְּדוֹר

From the study of 1 Chronicles 12:7

Range of meaning

Related to gader/gederah, 'wall, stone fence, walled enclosure (often a sheepfold).' As a place name it means something like 'Wall' or 'Walled Place.' The Bible names more than one Gedor: a town in the hill country of Judah (Josh 15:58, generally placed at Khirbet Jedur near Beth-zur, north of Hebron); a Gedor linked to Judahite clans in 1 Chr 4:4, 18; a Gedor toward the Simeonite frontier (1 Chr 4:39, where the Greek reads Gerar); and Gedor as a personal name in Saul's own family tree (1 Chr 8:31; 9:37).

Against the English

English versions all give 'Gedor' without 'the.' The Hebrew has 'the Gedor,' which suggests the name was still heard as a description ('the Walled Place'). English cannot easily show this, and it changes little.

Used elsewhere in the period

Josh 15:58; 1 Chr 4:4, 18, 39; 8:31; 9:37. Other place names from the same root are common in Judah's lowlands (Gederah, Gederoth, Gederothaim, Josh 15:36, 41), and 12:4 calls Jozabad 'the Gederathite.'

From the study of 1 Chronicles 4:39

Range of meaning

A place name meaning roughly "wall" or "walled place" (compare gādēr, "stone wall"). Several places and people carry it. There is a Gedor in Judah's hill country (Josh 15:58, usually placed at Khirbet Jedur north of Hebron), and "Gedor" also appears as a clan name in Judah's genealogy (1 Chr 4:4, 18).

Against the English

KJV, BSB, WEB, YLT, ESV and NASB keep "Gedor" from the Hebrew. Some modern versions, such as NLT and (as far as I know) NABRE, follow the Greek and read "Gerar".

Used elsewhere in the period

The Septuagint reads Gerara (Gerar). Gerar was a well-known town in the western Negev, between Gaza and Beersheba. It appears in Gen 10:19 as the southern edge of Canaanite territory, in the Abraham and Isaac stories (Gen 20; 26, including quarrels between herders over water and pasture), and in 2 Chr 14:13–15, where King Asa pursues Cushites (Cush was a son of Ham) to Gerar and carries off their sheep and camels.